therealdeal wrote:Westbrook is really a b****. He's nothing but a total punk b****. If I were playing with that guy in the gym, I'd give him a nasty hit.

If I could catch him

I don't know how big you are but unless you undercut his legs I doubt you'd move him very much. He's built very well. 6'3" 190lbs pure muscle

Also I respect the hell out of Russell. That's a guy who has never been given anything. He's always had to fight for his spot and it's gotten him this far. A ton of resolve and fight in that guy. Thats why Kobe respects him. Russell has a ridiculous work ethic

Read this on the RealGM forums and thought you guys would get a kick out of it

addygrace wrote:There was a story about Kobe tanking basketball games in high school. According to the great Phil Jackson, Kobe would play games and keep them close. At the end he would take over and be the hero.

Now just to clarify, I am a huge Kobe fan, and always have been. But, we can infer from this story Kobe is selfish, he has an ego, and is extremely talented. It takes some audacity. Some would say it disgraces the game. I would say, Kobe is a man who knows how to create a game inside a game. Maybe, he has a need to prove he's better than his dad ever was. He proved that a long time ago.

If you're a savant or genius at something, you are chasing history, not peers. You don't measure yourself against the field, you measure yourself against that which is much bigger. Kobe's like a chessmaster. He's a confident chessmaster. He took the number 24. Ask yourself why? Kobe proves to himself he can succeed in any circumstance. Why did Kobe take a run at the 100 point plateau? Why did Kobe want Shaq out of L.A.? I'm not saying that was all his fault. Phil and Shaq had a bigger role to play in that than he did. But why did he want that?

I have a theory. It's far-fetched, but it's a theory molded from history.

Kobe keeps the Lakers on the brink of missing the playoffs. A team with a great starting five, and 4 future hall of famers. Everybody starts writing them off. It's a head scratcher. This team can't win games and it looks as though Kobe's doing all he can. He shoots. He scores. The games are close, but they are losing.

All of sudden Kobe switches roles. He stops shooting. Why does he do this? Well according to Kobe, he did it to take some of the pressure off of Steve Nash. Ask yourself why? Why does he need to take the pressure off of a two time MVP? A guy who is one of the greatest point guards, this game has ever seen. A guy who played under D'Antoni for many years needs Kobe's help to facilitate D'Antoni's offense? Kobe said that! Not only does he start passing, but he does it at a clip, only the greats could accomplish. He has back to back 14 assist games. Kobe is the hero once again. The player that saves a hall of fame team from missing the playoffs. I think Kobe's goal is an NBA title. An NBA title after starting the season with the most head scratching losing streaks, NBA fans have ever seen.

Kobe has less shots in the last two games than he has assists!! It's mind blowing, if this is just a coincidence. So, after 42 games in the season, Kobe decides he can actually play point guard? Why wouldn't he do this when Steve Nash as injured? I think you know the answer.

I may be jumping the gun here but, if this continues you could not deny how this looks. I mean this would be legendary. A player, who's in his 16th season and looks like a young Dominique Wilkins, goes effing nuts, and switches to Magic Johnson the rest of the season. Is Kobe playing a game inside the game? You decide.He's even high arching that shot right now.

I should get an assist for that. It's an intentional pass to oneself, so it's an assist. That way people can't say all I do is shoot.-Kobe on passing the ball to himself off the backboard.

kobebryant248 wrote:one more time. you only can get a assists when your teammates hit their shots. and kobe tried many games to be the facilitator at the start of the game but his teammates couldn t hit a shot and so kobe didn t get the assists like he did tonight .kobe s game wasn t so different when several other games but this time his teammates could convert on kobe assists and that was the difference.

come on man... he has tried getting others involved in other games but not like this... he is playing PG at a different level... he seems to be REALLY REALLY trying to make the right play. b4 he would just nonchalantly dump it to D12 or pass it over. this is a totally different kobe right now and I told you he needs to pass more and I meant like how he is now instead of jacking up crazy shots alot of times.

King of Clutch wrote:I still don't understand how kobe averages more assists than wade, durant, and melo, etc., and still gets the most crap about not being a passer. It kinda sorta makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. How the heck does this happen? Media brainwashing, or just plain stupidity?

Weezy wrote:Kobe doesn't go for scoring titles at the expense of winning, he could have played and tried for it last season and he didn't. To suggest otherwise is ridiculous, he was playing to win, doing what he thought he needed to win. Clearly it wasn't working and he has changed it up, not on his own, after that team meeting, which means it was probably suggested by teammates and maybe even the coach.

Exactly. It doesn't get any more clear cut than: go play this game, score X points, win the scoring title...and Kobe doesn't go for it. See David Robinson for a clear example of a guy playing for the scoring title.

Weezy wrote:So basically they're playing like under Bernie, no real offense, just the players doing what they know how to do as intelligent basketball vets. So we hired a coach for his offense, that we had to stop running to start winning, brilliant. What purpose does this guy serve exactly?

Well, fortunately we hired the master motivator, a skilled psychologist who knows how to stroke players' egos, motivate them, and win rings. Ohh...wait.

Weezy wrote:Kobe doesn't go for scoring titles at the expense of winning, he could have played and tried for it last season and he didn't. To suggest otherwise is ridiculous, he was playing to win, doing what he thought he needed to win. Clearly it wasn't working and he has changed it up, not on his own, after that team meeting, which means it was probably suggested by teammates and maybe even the coach.

Exactly. It doesn't get any more clear cut than: go play this game, score X points, win the scoring title...and Kobe doesn't go for it. See David Robinson for a clear example of a guy playing for the scoring title.

Oh come on, respect The Admiral.

He went for the scoring title in that game he scored 71 points, it was the last game of the season, meaningless game for the Spurs.

The Spurs looked for him, specially in the second half (57 points), but who wouldnt?

The same way Kobe got all the shots on his way to the 81 points performance.

He got a quadruple-double that season, too.

There was a young O´Neal, the best Olajuwon i can remember, so it´s quite normal the Admiral wanted to make his point by getting the scoring title.

A guy shooting sometimes 40 shots early in the season is not going after the scoring title... he must be dumbest SOB in the NBA then, considering everybody knows that sharing the ball will win games yet he doesn't. If some of you would be believe, Kobe should be up for sainthood.

Weezy wrote:Kobe doesn't go for scoring titles at the expense of winning, he could have played and tried for it last season and he didn't. To suggest otherwise is ridiculous, he was playing to win, doing what he thought he needed to win. Clearly it wasn't working and he has changed it up, not on his own, after that team meeting, which means it was probably suggested by teammates and maybe even the coach.

Exactly. It doesn't get any more clear cut than: go play this game, score X points, win the scoring title...and Kobe doesn't go for it. See David Robinson for a clear example of a guy playing for the scoring title.

There is one thing I don't understand; since when is it a bad thing going for the scoring title? Of course, if it is to the detriment of your team it is a bad idea, but if your teammates are onboard and wants to help you get it, why not go for it? Seriously, it's stupid. It used to be AN HONOR to be a scoring champ in this league, nowadays it's seriously downplayed, or only talked about in a positive way when it's about certain players. For example, MJ's scoring titles are always used as one of the arguments for his legendary status (and he sure as hell took pride in winning them), yet last year when Kobe and Durant could have gone for it they both downplayed it, Kobe didn't even bother to play. It never would have gone down in such a way in the 80s or 90s. There is some serious bias going on as to when it is a positive to be a good scorer; the media gets a goofy about the scoring ability of Durant and Melo (I don't know how many ESPN experts have called Melo the best scorer in the game, let alone Durant), yet whenever Kobe has put up those numbers in the last few years, it was often not celebrated in the same way. I mean, it doesn't make sense.

People also act like it is EASY to score a lot of points, but if that was the case, why aren't more people averaging close to 30ppg? I'm quite sure there are more than a few players around the league that would be happy averaging 30 with a 42% fg percentage, so why aren't we seeing more scorers like this? Simply because people overlook the fact that scoring 30 points is bloody hard work, let alone 40. Since Durant is scoring so easily, why isn't he putting up 60 point games? I'm not out to take anything away from durant as a scorer though, cause he's amazing, but I just wish media and fans would stop letting their agendas getting in the way of appreciating the skill and effort that goes into the different aspects of the game.

therealdeal wrote:Westbrook is really a b****. He's nothing but a total punk b****. If I were playing with that guy in the gym, I'd give him a nasty hit.

If I could catch him

I don't know how big you are but unless you undercut his legs I doubt you'd move him very much. He's built very well. 6'3" 190lbs pure muscle

Also I respect the hell out of Russell. That's a guy who has never been given anything. He's always had to fight for his spot and it's gotten him this far. A ton of resolve and fight in that guy. Thats why Kobe respects him. Russell has a ridiculous work ethic

I wish more players played with his heart, effort and worked like him

Heart and effort don't give you the right to act like an idiot. His antics take away from the player he can be. Chris Paul is the same way. There's a difference between having a chip on your shoulder and being a knucklehead. He's the latter.

Durant and Rose both carry themselves perfectly or as near to it as kids can these days. Russell acts like a fool too much for my taste regardless of what has and hasn't been given to him.

And I'm about 5'10" and 210, I've been lifting forever, but I'm much older than Russell. I'd have a hard time catching him. I'd look like Rocky Balboa trying to catch a chicken.

LOS ANGELES -- Watching the Los Angeles Lakers beat down the Utah Jazz on Friday and take down the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday is enough to make me believe a deal has been struck: The Laker community will be confrontational -- the way Kobe Bryant likes it -- and in return Bryant will share the ball the way everyone else has wanted.

So there was Bryant, snapping at Steve Nash for passing up a shot Friday night. Or Kobe with a look of disgust on his face when Metta World Peace was clogging his path by posting up on the right block Sunday afternoon. You know what else happened on a regular basis this weekend? Kobe Bryant dishing out 14 assists per game as if he were gunning for John Stockton's record, not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring crown.

There wasn't a contract drawn up by lawyers for everyone to sign. Not even so much as a handshake deal. But everyone seems to be happier after the Lakers' proved able to, in Bryant's uncouth terms, "finally beat a team that's worth a s---" with a 105-96 victory over the Thunder.

"There's been no discussion, but it's been great," Lakers guard Steve Nash said. "He's been making plays for everybody. No matter how we do this or how it looks, when he plays for his teammates, draws a crowd and makes the right read, we're a different team."

While Bryant's passing was the talk of the Lakers' locker room, the passer himself was more pleased with the no-nonsense atmosphere.

"We're doing a real good job of holding each other accountable," Bryant said. "That makes a big difference."

The best sequence that summarized both of the changes came in the fourth quarter, with the Lakers clinging to a one-point lead. Bryant, dribbling on the right side, saw World Peace in his way. Kobe made a face as if he'd just bitten an onion soaked in lemon juice and dismissively waved World Peace out to the corner.

"What the f--- are you doing?" Bryant later recounted his thoughts at that moment.

Friday, Bryant had used the same terminology to express his displeasure at Nash making an unnecessary extra pass. That night he also expounded on the current climate in Lakerland: "The culture right now is a confrontational one, which you want. You can't just sweep things under the rug all the time. They don't get better by doing it. You have to be able to confront things."

On Sunday, World Peace vacated the spot and left Bryant a lane to drive to the hoop. Bryant drove past Serge Ibaka, but rather than challenge one of the NBA's top shot-blockers Bryant found a cutting Earl Clark, who took the ball and slammed it home.

Kobe got things his way, and everyone else got a chance to shoot the ball. For what it's worth, the Lakers are 7-14 when he scores 30 points this season and 3-0 when he has 11 or more assists.

"When he distributes the ball like that, guys are ready to catch it," Lakers forward Pau Gasol said. "He sets everybody up and sets up such a good energy on offense and it carries over to the defensive end. It's worked great."

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni's joy from looking at a box score with 29 assists and six players in double-digit scoring was tempered when his eyes caught the Lakers' record, which is still under .500 at 19-25. You also wonder if D'Antoni's happiness is diminished by the essential scrapping of his offensive philosophy to accommodate this bigger, slower team.

"We're a team that posts the ball," is how Bryant described the Lakers' newfound identity. "We play inside-out."

Does that sound like a typical Mike D'Antoni team to you? But the urgency of their situation has forced everyone to abandon his comfort zone. Nash has gone from directing the show to becoming a spot-up shooter (he made 6 of 11 shots in both of Kobe's 14-assist games). Pau Gasol is coming off the bench, but still scoring more than his season average. Dwight Howard had only seven field goal attempts (he did shoot 10 free throws).

"I think the key for us is to not look at the past and how we played in the past individually and say, 'Well, I had success doing it this way,'" Nash said. "Look at how you can get involved and impact with the way that we're playing."

The Lakers are still four games behind the Houston Rockets for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. Even though the Lakers aren't a playoff team yet, they finally have started to play like one. The ongoing question: Is it the fancy passing, or a passing fancy?

Weezy wrote:Kobe doesn't go for scoring titles at the expense of winning, he could have played and tried for it last season and he didn't. To suggest otherwise is ridiculous, he was playing to win, doing what he thought he needed to win. Clearly it wasn't working and he has changed it up, not on his own, after that team meeting, which means it was probably suggested by teammates and maybe even the coach.

Exactly. It doesn't get any more clear cut than: go play this game, score X points, win the scoring title...and Kobe doesn't go for it. See David Robinson for a clear example of a guy playing for the scoring title.

Oh come on, respect The Admiral.

He went for the scoring title in that game he scored 71 points, it was the last game of the season, meaningless game for the Spurs.

The Spurs looked for him, specially in the second half (57 points), but who wouldnt?

The same way Kobe got all the shots on his way to the 81 points performance.

He got a quadruple-double that season, too.

There was a young O´Neal, the best Olajuwon i can remember, so it´s quite normal the Admiral wanted to make his point by getting the scoring title.

Robinson went after the scoring title because he hated Shaq and didn't want him to get it, so he instructed his teammates to force feed him the ball so he could get 71, that's petty and silly. So no, I will give "The Admiral" zero respect for that.

Didn't Shaq once claim he disliked David Robinson because he snubbed a teenage Shaq for an autograph or something?

Funny how Shaq grows up and dunks all over David Robinson as a pro.

UCLA, Los Angeles, CA. Born and Raised. In Dr. Buss I Truss! THE ORIGINATOR OF: "Call It From Heaven Chick!" "To be removed if the Lakers make the playoffs." Well, I removed it for an hour and decided to put it back. I have to be honest.

Since Kobe passed MJ on the all time assists list where does that put him on your list, well for those who still have him outside of your top 10 or top 5? That's a pretty cool accomplishment since he's so selfish and all? Call me silly but I always thought the selfish argument was to deflect from him as a great scorer. While us Laker fans prefer this Kobe, others are saying "Yay no more scoring Kobe no more scoring titles" of course bean doesn't care. But other players are always begged to score and have these explosive scoring runs, and people enjoy it. Still mind boggling how people still get up in arms about comparing him to MJ opposed to other players. But Kobe is Kobe I rather Kobe be compared to Kobe since it's like 3 different versions of him lol. Only get one player like this in a lifetime, too bad I never saw him in person.

Jazzygirl205 wrote:Since Kobe passed MJ on the all time assists list where does that put him on your list, well for those who still have him outside of your top 10 or top 5? That's a pretty cool accomplishment since he's so selfish and all? Call me silly but I always thought the selfish argument was to deflect from him as a great scorer. While us Laker fans prefer this Kobe, others are saying "Yay no more scoring Kobe no more scoring titles" of course bean doesn't care. But other players are always begged to score and have these explosive scoring runs, and people enjoy it. Still mind boggling how people still get up in arms about comparing him to MJ opposed to other players. But Kobe is Kobe I rather Kobe be compared to Kobe since it's like 3 different versions of him lol. Only get one player like this in a lifetime, too bad I never saw him in person.